Mr Tough Love, boiling water is about as simple as it gets. But, to answer your question, it seems wasteful (water, time, electricity) to bring a pot of water to boil for 1 - 2 ears. At least that's why I microwave on occasion (with husks on). Now, when there's a big collection of cobs to cook then into the pot of water they go.

Thanks for the answers. Should have mentioned that the corn I had (mea culpa, mea culpa) was already free of its husk. I ended up wrapping them in damp paper towels, 2 minutes, flip, 2 more minutes. Came out pretty good.

And Pierino, in the time it takes to get water to boil, the corn is done in the microwave. I think that the trick, as some have suggested, is to add water to be heated/steamed by the microwave.

Okay, Pierino admits to being a geezer and a purist but he has yet to discover a food that is actually improved by microwaving. He's living in the Slow Food chain. And also when required can throw a four seam change up.

mainecook introduces an interesting point which I mostly agree with but not entirely. Corn is considered a "commodity" and it's traded as such. Last year's drought ravaged most of the corn and soy from the Midwest. That said, the origin of corn (maize) is from the Americas as in Central and South America, so the stuff that you are seeing in your markets is coming up from those nether parts where it actually began. I doubt that the Pilgrims ate corn on the cob on that first Thanksgiving.

Speaking to Sam's point, he's right about the word "corn". Not that I have any interest in the King James bible. Maize probably captures it better. In France they still treat corn cob as food for pigs. The Italians however grow "granoturcco" (how the Turks come into it remains a mystery) but of course the most successful they devised was polenta once they figured out the lime thing.

I get good results microwaving corn on the cob this way: Husk the corn, remove the silk, and twist in a plastic corn holder into each end of each ear. Microwave until done to your taste. (Microwave time will depend the power of your microwave oven, the number of ears you are cooking at once, and your taste.)

This time of year, I microwave corn at least a couple of times a week. I leave the husks on, and have best results when I cut of the ends of any excess stalk or husks so that the table in the microwave will turn. I find that if the table stays stationary, I get spots on the corn where it cooks too much. The power of your microwave will also dictate the time. I used to have one that required as much as 4 minutes per ear. The one I have now is 2 minutes. When I had to cook them longer, I also flipped them over half way through the cooking. Otherwise the kernels on the bottom could get a little waterlogged which affected the texture. Now that I have a more powerful microwave, I just zap for 2 min per ear and I'm done. May sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Beats stovetop any night of the week for me. Especially if I've got a few more dishes coming together (or not) for dinner.